The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 will be announced Saturday in Indianapolis as part of Final Four weekend.
For former Mavericks coach Dick Motta and his family, there is no suspense. On Monday morning, Naismith HOF president and CEO John Doleva informed Motta’s family that he once again fell short of the needed votes for induction.
A family member told The Dallas Morning News that Doleva tried to reassure the Mottas that he remains eligible for future induction, but the reality is Dick Motta turns 95 on Sept. 3 — three days before the Class of 2026 will be enshrined in Springfield, Mass.-based hall.
The Motta family’s hopes were raised because this year was the first time he’s been a finalist since he was one of 12 final nominees in both 2011 and 2012. All 23 of those other finalists subsequently made the Hall of Fame, but not Motta.
Mavericks
“I can look anyone in the eye and say I’ve had a miracle life,” Motta told The News in late-February, for a story about his legendary four-decade coaching career, which included two stints with the Mavericks, 1980-87 and 1994-96.
Motta’s continued Hall omission remains puzzling in numerous respects. His 935 career victories are 14th-most in NBA history. Of the top 16 victory leaders, the only ones not in the hall are Motta and active coaches Doc Rivers and Rick Carlisle.
Milwaukee coach Rivers is among the 11 finalists nominated by the hall’s North American committee. A person familiar with the selection process told The News that Rivers indeed got voted in this year.
At least Rivers has won an NBA championship (with Boston in 2008), as did Motta with the Washington Bullets in 1978. Motta also coached the Bullets to the 1979 Finals, where they fell to Seattle.
Motta is the unique, perhaps singular, hall candidate who has coached and won at literally every basketball level: junior high, high school, junior college, major college and NBA. He coached an Air Force team during the Korean War and even coached a prison team one summer.
When Motta jumped from Weber State to become the Chicago Bulls’ coach in 1968, he coached in the first NBA game he’d actually seen in person, on Oct. 15, 1968 in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
For the Mavericks franchise, 2026 has been a year for long overdue recognition of Mavericks pioneers. In late January the franchise retired Mark Aguirre’s No. 24 and honored co-founder Norm Sonju.
But for Motta, the first coach in Mavericks history, the wait continues.
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